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Originally posted by Sam Casey: I have a Hale, purchased 1975, #2 tip and I've used it for roughly 35,000 pianos and still do today. I tried out a Fujan a dealer friend had and just couldn't get along with it. Dynamics were completely different and I had difficult controlling it. Can't teach an old dog new tricks I guess. [/b]

Sam, just curious. How many #2 tips have you wore out tuning those 35,000 pianos. I'm on my 3rd tip in 15 years. One became very rounded and the other cracked while doing a warranty tuning.

On the treble side when there's not much clearance room, how about if you try to tune from the right side of the grand, so the tuning lever will pointed toward the back of the piano instead of the side. You have to stand up though. Hopefully you could use the Fujan for the whole piano. Let me know.

Good question Pianoman. It seems that the first tip lasted quite a while, or until some older tuner tried my hammer and said to try his Hale with a new tip. Revelation. Since then I've gone through several but I can't recall how many. Right after Schaff bought APSCO I bought several of their stock of remaining Hale tips and still have a few left. They don't seem to last as long.

Good to know some "old" tuners still use "old" stuff like APSCO! All my tuning parts are APSCO but then one day, I had to change some tips and heads then the trouble started! Since Schaff bought APSCO (American Piano Supply Co)and Hale is supposed to be the same as the two above mentioned, how do you go around switching between brand names. I mean, since I started changing the tips and some heads from different companies, the tread don't fit perfectly and it breaks very fast. Couldn't they stick with one same standarized tread?

Also I really hate the Hale tips. They just don't seem to "grab" the tuning pins like the APSCO does. For me, it is rubbish! What the other techs buy today? Is it even possible to fit the today tips over some APSCO "old" parts? I am planning to order one Charles Faulk tuning hammer with a custom ball handle but I don't want to trow away all my other tuning heads and tips.

I don't have a clue Mario. I know someday I'll have to face the tip issue and hope I'll have a solution. I guess I'll find a suitable quality tip and have the head rethreaded to match. My Hale hammer is light, nylon and polished slick from use.

I use a Schaff extension hammer with four tips. One is the shortest combination, for getting under bass desk slides, one is the next longer, for general use, one is the Fendon narrow tip which I need all too often, and the last is about 3" long for players and other pianos where stuff gets in the way. I lost one a long time ago, and have had two ever since. I stripped the threads on an extension rod once, but other than that, I have never worn anything out.

I try to have two of every tool I carry with me, just in case. I am very protective of my Deagan tuning fork. It is much better than my emergency backup fork. It has a much purer tone. The loss of Deagan was a terrible blow to the music world.

Hongzhi, good question. How fragile is the Fujan hammer (the carbon fiber handle)Susceptible to heat, can it be dented or crushed easily? I've had mine for a week and love it. I had to get accustom to two things 1. 'seeing' around the large head to guide to the next pin, but it's not a big deal. 2. the hammer has less mass than my steel ones. Some technique change later and i'm having a fun time using it. Smaller incremental pin movement with better string setting. thanks Steve.... worthy product.

Originally posted by ptuner: Hongzhi, good question. How fragile is the Fujan hammer (the carbon fiber handle)Susceptible to heat, can it be dented or crushed easily? I've had mine for a week and love it. I had to get accustom to two things 1. 'seeing' around the large head to guide to the next pin, but it's not a big deal. 2. the hammer has less mass than my steel ones. Some technique change later and i'm having a fun time using it. Smaller incremental pin movement with better string setting. thanks Steve.... worthy product. [/b]

Originally posted by ptuner: Hongzhi, good question. How fragile is the Fujan hammer (the carbon fiber handle)Susceptible to heat, can it be dented or crushed easily? I've had mine for a week and love it. I had to get accustom to two things 1. 'seeing' around the large head to guide to the next pin, but it's not a big deal. 2. the hammer has less mass than my steel ones. Some technique change later and i'm having a fun time using it. Smaller incremental pin movement with better string setting. thanks Steve.... worthy product. [/b]

Yahh. I understand not to put a tennis racket in the car in summer. I used to be a club level tennis player, and even I take care of my carben rackets carefully, I still have three of my rackets frame broken. If I happened to leave my rackets in an exposed mid-summer noon, I am sure I will break the string within one hour of game.

In the meanwhile, some of my friends, they just store their rackets in the car all the time, they donot play like pro, and their rackets seems can last 10 years, and even never break string.

The problem is now I get the fujan, and I hope I can use it for the next 50 years (then I will be 78), I had to be careful, because I like it so much.

I've been following this thread as well as others on the Fujan lever for some time now trying to decide on a new hammer for myself. I've been using a Schaff Rosewood extenion hammer for to many years to mention & I know it weighs over a pound so just to put in my two cent, take a look at the Charles Faulk Original Titanium Tunning Hammer. Can be seen at www.faulkpiano.com This is the hammer I decided to buy. I received it this past Monday. Must have tuned 12 pianos since. All I can say is I love it! This is a REAL PIANO TUNER'S hammer. Mine only weighs 10.5 oz. There's no flex in the titanium shaft & as BDB, I use 4 different head & tip combinations. Makes it possible to tune just about any piano by changing heads quickly. The heads & tips can easily be purchased from any supply house at a very reasonable price. Also the best part is the difference in the price. I saved WELL over $100.00 bucks and didn't have to buy any different heads or tips. They also come in many types of exotic woods.

All I'm saying is there are other options out there that can get you to where your wanting to go with out reinventing the wheel and less pricey.

I hope this helps, not hurts in making your decision.........Good Hunting

I prefer the Charles Faulk Titanium tuning hammer too. I will order one with a "ball" handle though. I don't need the extra rigidity of the "pear" handle. I don't ever grab the tuning hammer with the hand wide open like most tuner do. I rather go with "jerk" movements to instantly change the position of the tuning pin without bending it. So with the regular extension APSCO tuning hammer I'm using now, I always end up grabbing it at the end only, so for me the ball handle is much more comfortable.

I tried a WonderWand at Wendl&Lung in Vienna where I was doing a training. I liked it very much even though the shaft was NOT made out of titanium like the Charles Faulk but didn't mind the little flex and was so comfortable with the ball end handle. It was very short (9inches) and light (maybe 9 ounces)

I prefer the Charles Faulk Titanium tuning hammer too. I will order one with a "ball" handle though.[/b]

That's the lever I was speaking of. Mine has the ball handle. As like you, I always tend to use the end of my extension lever. With the ball, feel & control as well as the weight difference makes this an excellent tuning hammer.

I don't know if you have spoke with Charles yet but he's a complete pleasure to do buisness with. Honest & knowledgeable..

This one is a "cheap" WonderWan I tried in Vienna at Wendl&Lung. As you can see, it is really a ball handle and I like it soooo much!

I've communicate with Charles Faulk only by email and can confirm he sound like a real friend.

Looking foward to order my tuning hammer from him soon.

As for the tuning technique, I don't see often piano tuners who manipulate their tuning hammer the way we do, i.e. applying very small movements of the tuning pin by means of small "jerks" as opposed to "wrenching" or turning the tuning pins. I find this rather strange other tuners dont do it that way and sometimes I even think that I must be missing something! Although I can say I have one of the most stable tuning in the business in my area. I suppose I must know how to really "set" the tuning pins.

No, thats not like the lever I ordered form Charles. By the term ball I was referring to the type that is on his website. www.faulkpiano.com It's the type with a wooden handle running a little bit more than half way up the shaft and has a ball or pear shaping at the end of the handle. You can see his entire collection by clicking on the link at the top of his page - The Original Titanium Tuning Hammer.

I hope this is the lever your considering. Now that I've tuned a few uprights with mine I know I made the right decision. Upright tuning has never been this easy, or should I say less difficult.

As far as our tuning styles being some what similar. Your correct but my tuning technique may vary for some pianos. The jerking method has been around for a long time. It was taught to me by my mentor at least 25 years ago. Thank God for him. God rest his soul.

Anyway, I'm sooo glad I bought the Charles Faulk lever. It gets better to me each time I use it.

I tough you where refering to the "pear" handle, not the "ball" handle. I still prefer the "ball" handle over the "pear" like Charles Faulk make them standard but I never had a chance to try them though!

Just come back for a long journey to Italy. Then the screen of my HP laptop fail, had it fixed and get it back. Two days ago got my first grand, a second hand yamaha G2. It is a hard job to find the perfect one for me from about 50 second hand grands.

Come back to fujan:

I now feels it is irreproachability on pins which in good condition. Escepially on these very sensitive pins, every touch can change the pitch, as far as tune lab can tell the difference. But on some unsensitive pins and strings, fujan dose the same job than a cheaper level.

For grands, till now I tuned three grands, yamaha G2, C3, kawai GM-30, yes, there is plearance problem while point to 3 o'clock position. Than I find 11-12 o'clock positon solves the problem. And I need to tuning stand-up for the treble side. It does not bothered my after I get used to it.

For the rest part, the level is excellent!And the feeling to move it from pin to pin are so great.